Steering arrangement for toy vehicles



Sept. 13, 1966 c. H. VAUGHAN STEERING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOY VEHICLE FiledJune 1, 1964 RM m "WM/M if: MM 5 United States Patent 3 271,89 STEERINGARRANGEMENT FOR TOY VEHICLES Charles H. Vaughan, 2701 Middle Belt,Pontiac, Mich. Filed June 1, 1964, Ser. No. 371,500 7 Claims. (Cl.46210) This invention relates to a toy vehicle and has particularreference to a new and improved steering arrangement for a toyautomobile, or the like. In general, the invention comprises a groundengaging steering wheel for a toy vehicle, which is mounted on thevehicle in such a manner as to enable the operator of the toy to controlsteering thereof by proper manipulation of a control cord secured to thetoy. The invention is particularly suitable for use in a motor-drivenwheeled toy, although it is not limited thereto.

According to the present invention, a wheeled toy, such as a toyautomobile, is provided with at least a pair of ground engaging wheels,one of which may be driven either by a spring motor, or a batteryoperated electric motor. The steering wheel is mounted on the undersideof the vehicle body in such a manner that it is free to swivel or swingfrom side to side along an arcuate path, the center of curvature ofwhich is disposed between the steering wheel and the driven wheels. Acontrol cord extends from the vehicle and may be gripped by the operatorin order to exert a lateral pull on the vehicle body thereby effectingrelative movement between the body and the steering wheel so that thetoy will turn in the direction opposite the direction of pull on thecontrol cord. The control cord is not connected to the steering wheeldirectly, since the latter is freely movable relative to the vehiclebody within predetermined limits and the control cord is thereforeutilized merely to shift the body laterally relative to the steeringwheel to change the direction in which the toy is moving. When abatteryoperated electric motor is employed as the source of power, thecontrol cord may consist of the electric wire which is conventionallyemployed for enabling the operator to control operation of the toy.

A principle object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedsteering arrangement for a toy vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a steering arrangementfor toy vehicles in which a ground engaging steering wheel is mounted onthe vehicle body in such a manner as to enable the vehicle to be steeredby exerting a pull on the vehicle body through the use of a remotecontrol cord.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and claims and may be understood by reference tothe accompanying drawing, of which there is one sheet, which by way ofillustration show preferred embodiments of the invention and what I nowconsider to be the best mode of applying the principles thereof. Otherembodiments of the invention may be used without departing from thescope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy vehicle embodying the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the underside of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of another form of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a toy vehicle comprises a plastic bodymounted on front and rear wheels 12 and 14 and includes an electricmotor 16 for driving the 3,271,899 Patented Sept. 13, 1966 ice rearwheels 14 through a gear train 18. The motor 16 may be battery poweredand a flexible electric wire 20 leads from the motor 16 through anopening in the hood of the vehicle. The portion 22 of the wire 20 may beseveral feet in length and leads to a control box (not shown) ofconventional construction which includes batteries and a hand-operatedswitch so that the vehicle may be operated from a distance by a personholding the control box.

As will be noted in FIG. 3, the front wheels 12 are spaced a very slightdistance above the ground, or supporting surface 24, and a groundengaging front steering wheel 26 supports the front end of the toy. Thesteering wheel 26 is rotatable on a wire axle 28, the opposite ends ofwhich are turned upwardly and secured within bosses 30 formed on asteering member 31. The member 31 is provided with a cutout portion 32to accommodate the steering wheel 26.

A supporting bracket 34 is secured by a screw 36 to a post 38 whichextends downwardly from the underside of the hood of the vehicle. Themounting bracket 34 is provided with arms 40 which engage and slidablyfit against a pair of supports 42 which may be formed integrally withthe vehicle body and extend downwardly from the underside of the hood ofthe body.

The steering member 31 is pivotally mounted on the bracket 34 by meansof a pin 44 which extends upwardly from the member 31 through a hole inthe bracket 34 and has its outer end wedged or staked to retain thesteering assembly in place.

The steering member 31 and the wheel 26 carried thereby are free topivot on the pin 44 toward either side of the vehicle. Such movement ofthe steering mechanism is limited by engagement of one of the bosses 30with'the adjacent one of the arms 40 of the supporting bracket 34. Thesteering wheel is thus mounted for movement along an arcuate path, thecenter of curvature of which is the pin 44, which is disposed rearwardlyof the steering wheel.

In operation of the toy, the operator energizes the motor 16 throughproper manipulation of the control box at the outer end of the elongatedcontrol wire 22. Assuming the vehicle to be driven in a straight path ata distance from the operator, a slight pull on the control wire 22 willeffect movement of the vehicle body over the steering wheel 26 so thatthe latter is pivoted toward the side of the vehicle opposite that fromwhich the pull is exerted, thereby causing the vehicle to turn away fromthe operator. The vehicle will continue turning until a further controlforce is applied to the vehicle through the control wire 22. The vehiclethus may be made to travel in a circular path, or may be made to travelin a figure 8 path, or may be manipulated in any desired manner byexerting a pull on the control cord at the proper time. While a pull onthe control cord as described will swing the steering wheel to theopposite side of the body of the vehicle, it is apparent that acontinued light pull or tension on the cord may be used to keep the toptraveling in a straight line, or even to turn the toy toward theoperator by skidding the wheel over the ground, thereby making possibletravel of the toy in any desired path.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the steering wheel50 .is slidably and rotatably mounted on a curved axle 52, which may bemade of wire and provided with end portions 54 suitably secured to apart of the vehicle as previously described and operation thereof isalso as described above. When a lateral pull is exerted on the controlcord, the steering wheel 50 will slide to one end or the other of thecurved axle 52 thereby to effect turning of the toy away from thedirection from which the pull was exerted. The center of curvature ofthe axle 52 is disposed rearw-ardly of the steering wheel 50 and thusthe steering wheel functions similarly to the pivoted wheel previouslydescribed.

While the toy vehicles shown herein are preferably provided with frontwheels which are held off the supporting surface by the steering wheel,the front wheels are not necessary, but improve the appearance and addstability to the toy when it is transversing a curved path. It will beapparent that a spring motor could be used, rather than an electricmotor, as the power source and that the steering arrangement might alsobe used in any type of wheeled toy.

While I have illustrated and described preferred embodi-ments of myinvention, it is understood that this is capable of modification, and Itherefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth butdesire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall withinthe purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A toy vehicle having a pair of rear wheels, motor means for drivingat least one of said wheels, a ground engaging front steering wheelmounted on said vehicle for limited movement from side to side of thevehicle along an arcuate path the center of curvature of which isvertical and disposed rearwardly of said steering wheel, and a controlcord secured to said vehicle independently of said steering wheel bymeans of which an operator may exert a laterally directed pull on thevehicle to move the vehicle laterally over said steering wheel toposition the latter at the side of the vehicle opposite the side fromwhich the pull on the cord is exerted thereby to effect turning of thevehicle away from the operator.

2. A toy vehicle having a pair or rear wheels, motor means for drivingat least one of said wheels, a ground engaging front steering wheelswivelly mounted on said vehicle for movement from side to side of thevehicle along an arcuate path the center of curvature of which isdisposed rearwardly of said steering wheel, and a control cord securedto said vehicle independently of said steering wheel by means of whichan operator may exert a pull on the vehicle to move the vehiclelaterally over said steering wheel to position the latter at the side ofthe vehicle opposite the side from which the pull on the cord is exertedthereby to effect turning of the vehicle away from the operator.

3. A toy vehicle havinga pair of rear wheels, a ground engaging frontsteering wheel mounted on said vehicle for movement from side to side ofthe vehicle along an arcuate path the center of curvature of which isvertical and disposed rearwardly of said steering wheel, and a controlcord secured to said vehicle independently of said steering wheel bymeans of which an operator may exert a pull on the vehicle to move thevehicle laterally over said steering wheel to position the latter at theside of the vehicle opposite the side from which the pull on the cord isexerted thereby to effect turning of the vehicle away from the operator.7

4. A toy vehicle having a pair of ground engaging wheels at one endthereof, motor means for driving at least one of said wheels, at groundengaging steering wheel supporting the other end of said vehicle, meansmounting said steering Wheel for movement from side to side of thevehicle along an arcuate path the center of curvature of which isvertical and longitudinally spaced from the steering Wheel toward saidpair of wheels, and a control cord secured to said vehicle independentlyof said steering wheel by means of which an operator may exert a pull onthe vehicle to move the vehicle laterally over said steering wheel toposition the latter at the side of the vehicle opposite the side fromwhich the pull on the cord is exerted thereby to effect turning of thevehicle away from the operator.

5. A toy vehicle according to claim 4 wherein said mounting meanscomprises a steering member pivotally mounted on said vehicle androtatably supporting said steering wheel.

6. A toy vehicle according to claim 5 including stops on said vehicleengageable with said steering member to limit pivotal movement thereof.

7. A toy vehicle according to claim 4 wherein said mounting meanscomprises a curved axle on which said steering Wheel is rotatably andslidably mounted.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/ 1958 Bashover46-244 5/1959 Vaughan 46210 X

1. A TOY VEHICLE HAVING A PAIR OF REAR WHEELS, MOTOR MEANS FOR DRIVINGAT LEAST ONE OF SAID WHEELS, A GROUND ENGAGING FRONT STEERING WHEELMOUNTED ON SAID VEHICLE FOR LIMITED MOVEMENT FROM SIDE TO SIDE OF THEVEHICLE ALONG AN ARCUATE PATH THE CENTER OF CURVATURE OF WHICH ISVERTICAL AND DISPOSED REARWARDLY OF SAID STEERING WHEEL, AND A CONTROLCORD SECURED TO SAID VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY OF SAID STEERING WHEEL BYMEANS OF WHICH AN OPERATOR MAY